Sunday, January 13, 2013

9Volt - Open Circuit (Out Now, 2012)

9volt is a very exciting band that consists of Rick Parker on trombone and effects, Eyal Maoz on guitar and effects, Yonadav Halevy on drums with special guest Tim Berne on alto saxophone. Maoz, who has a couple of Tzadik records to his credit is fine here on this album with a probing guitar style that turns up to lead blasting full band improvisations with full throttle guitar that are wild and unrelenting. It’s really cool to hear Tim Berne is this scenario, playing a role similar to what he did on 2011’s The Veil by the collective BB and C. Much like on that album, the music is dynamic and building, moving between avant-garde squalls of noise and abstract passages of sound sculpture. The trio is very well integrated, and the effects used by Parker and Maoz allow them to sculpt the sound even further, developing eddies and currents of processed music. The opening “Squeegie” is particularly interesting, with the horn players setting up a fine riff before Maoz and Halvey come in and just blast it apart. Everybody rallies and comes together and soon the band is playing a ferocious avant-fusion. “Yes, Your Majesty” builds from crunching guitar, to a punishing improvisation where the music is kneaded and stretched by the effects used, particularly on the trombone. This album worked really well, with each member of the group working intuitively with each other and as an organic whole. They develop an interesting aesthetic concept that allows them to interact in a complimentary fashion. Open Circuit - amazon.com